August 14, 2008
L.A. follies
The Los Angeles City Council has been on a tear lately, indulging its two favorite pasttimes: Nanny State control of stupid residents, and the two-fer of hostility towards businesses and coddling illegal aliens.
Because the residents of South L.A. are poor (and presumably morons, too), the Council passed an ordinance last month banning any new fast food joints from opening their doors in poor neighborhoods. Now, maybe it's just me, but doesn't it seem a bit condescending to decide that the only way to deal with the epidemic of health woes arising from eating too much junk food is to deny the blacks and latinos who live in these neighborhoods the right to spend their money as they see fit, at the restaurants of their own choosing?
In the latest bit of Big Brother run amok, the Council voted to require big-box home improvement retailers to provide for the comfort and needs of people who aren't even customers.
They are, however, illegal aliens.
Major new home improvement stores opening in the city of Los Angeles may have to build shelters for day laborers under a City Council ordinance approved Wednesday.
Under the ordinance, proposed by Councilmembers Bernard Parks and Ed Reyes and passed unanimously, all proposed home improvement stores of more than 100,000 square feet would have to obtain a conditional use permit from the city. Most Home Depot, Lowe’s and other big box home improvement stores would meet this threshold.
In order to obtain the permit, the developers of the stores would have to present plans to address the issue of day laborers congregating on the property and waiting to be picked up for jobs. These plans could include building shelters for day laborers that include bathroom facilities, though the ordinance does not specifically mandate that such shelters be built.
Several councilmembers said they also wanted to see an ordinance addressing day laborer issues at existing home improvement stores.
It seems that the evil corporations -- who meet the needs of their customers, as well as providing jobs and sales tax revenue -- are responsible for ensuring that "day laborers" have a place to hang out that's protected from the elements, with restrooms and drinking water, too, all under the guise of solving the problems created by these folks congregating outside the stores.
I guess the theory is Home Depot and Lowes are creating an "attractive nuisance" and are therefore responsible for solving the problem.
Of course, a cheaper solution would be to drop a dime on the local ICE office. After all, sanctuary city or no, the feds are still tasked with enforcing immigration law.
Given the way California's politicians (local and state) treat business owners, I'm surprised they haven't all pulled up stakes and moved to friendlier locales.
Posted by Mike Lief at August 14, 2008 10:11 PM
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